About:

John Brady is the author of Golden Palms, a noir about LA politics. It’s funny too. His other fiction and non-fiction writing have appeared in various outlets, including pioneertown, Exposition Review, the Los Angeles Review, the Big Windows Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mother Jones, Punk Planet, the Los Angeles Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle and on National Public Radio. He’s written speeches for mayors, CEOs and community leaders, helped citizens fight the dark arts of bureaucratic obfuscation and created political policies that turned out to be pretty useful.

 

 Golden Palms isn’t your usual noir.

It’s funny in places. It’s about politics.

 
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Ted Burek isn’t some jaded private dick or bitter cop with a past. In fact, Ted’s not much of a detective at all. He’s a low-level political hack looking for some redemption in LA’s halls of power. Someone doesn’t want to make it easy for him, though. Someone is determined to make trouble for his boss.

To get to the bottom of what’s going on, Ted will face off with a ghostly gang assassin, radical bicyclists, out-of-town hard boys with malice in their hearts, slick real estate developers, over-confident tech bros, bloviating pols and one strident, but beguiling political activist.

As Ted gets closer to the truth and further in over his head, he’ll discover just how high the price of justice can be.


 
 

Latest Stories

 
 
 

“The White Pine”

A story about the first tree in the forest and the cycles of natural and human history. It’s about death too.

“Tomorrow’s gonna go off”

A story about not-quite requited friendship set in Venice, California. There’s surfing and meditations on masculinity, violence and loneliness in it too.

 

Some Other Stories

 
 

“This Is an Interview with a Pipe”

A story about treachery and pipes. Winner of Exposition Review’s Flash 405 “Change in Perspective” contest.

 

“A Wheel Story”

A story about wheels and memory and admiring a friend for a talent he has but you don’t.

 

“Sinker”

A story about fathers and sons and beer.

 
 

“A Confusion Story”

A story about two Martin Landaus, cryogenics, and the wish to have avoided embarrassment.



“Six Across”

An LA Noir about words and rum.